


In which Stu needs some comfort

by frostytherobot



Category: What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-02-06
Packaged: 2018-09-22 11:55:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9606569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frostytherobot/pseuds/frostytherobot
Summary: Stu's having a hard time coping with things that happen during the full moon.Comfort fic in which Deacon talks to Stu about life for supernatural creatures. It seems life is tough for werewolves, vampires, and sixteen-year-olds alike.





	

"That must be Nick and Stu!" Viago exclaimed from the kitchen as he heard a rapping at the door. It had been almost a week since the two had last come over to spend time with their friends in the flat, and a few days since the last full moon. Stu would have been recovered from his last bout of lycanthropy and would be up for another hangout session with the vampires. He pulled off the rubber gloves and set aside the sponge and towel he was using to clean the table, rushing into the hallway to meet the pair at the door. 

Viago smiled as he pulled the front door open and set eyes on his two friends. "Nick! Stu! It's good to see you! Come in, you two!" he added, making sure Nick would be able to enter the house. Unfortunately the rules apply to even the houses of other vampires. What a pain.

"Hey everyone," Nick said. He entered and Stu trailed behind almost reluctantly as the other two housemates came down the hallway to greet them at the door and usher them into the living room as they usually did when the pair arrived at the house. 

"How have you two been this past week?" Viago continued to question as they all took seats, Nick flopping himself down on the couch next to Vladislav and Viago while Stu took a seat next to a lounging Deacon opposite the other three. "We haven't seen you since last Thursday night." 

"Everything's been going alright on my end," Nick answered in his casual tone. "Just been doing the usual, y'know. Going to bars, getting victims. Just the usual."

"You haven't been turning anyone into vampires again, have you?" Vladislav interjected. 

"Oh, no. No." Nick gave Vlad a look. "I remember what you all told me. I'm not an idiot." 

Vlad was going to say something, but decided to let it slide. "How about you, Stu?"

"Yeah, how was the full moon?" Deacon asked. 

The color from Stu's cheeks had disappeared, and he avoided eye contact with everyone in the room, including Nick. 

"Fine," Stu replied. He scooted away from Deacon. 

"Did anything cool happen this time?" Deacon continued his questioning.

"...No." Stu had never been one to talk much, but his single-word answers put everyone in the room at unease. He turned his head towards the doorframe in an attempt to keep the vampires from looking at his face. 

The three flatmates turned their gazes to Nick instead, hoping he'd have an answer for Stu's behavior. He shrugged and shook his head.

"Hey, Stu?" Nick said, "You're acting kinda weird, mate. You wanna tell us what's going on?" 

Stu glanced at Nick from the corner of his eye before turning his gaze back into the hallway. "Nothing's going on," he replied curtly.

Viago frowned. "Did something happen during the full moon? Something with the other werewolves?" 

Stu furrowed his brow. "No," he said. "Nothing happened," he lied again, his frustration growing. He wished his friends would get off the subject.

"You have to tell us what's going on, mate, or we can't help," Nick added.

"I told you, nothing is going on. Could you drop it?" Stu replied. He stood up and began to leave the room.

"Stu, come back," Viago said, trying to keep him from leaving.

"Stu--" Vladislav began to call after him, but was interrupted.

"I said nothing happened!" Stu turned and snapped at them, his eyes glowing yellow and mouth snarling. He blinked a few times, his eyes returning to their normal shade of blue, and, realizing what had just happened to him, darted into the hallway and out of the house, the door slamming behind him.

The four remaining friends sat in silence, looking at each other and wondering what could possibly have happened to Stu during the full moon. 

"We should go talk to him," Viago said, finally breaking the awkward silence and standing up to head towards the door.

"Not all at once," Vlad countered. "You saw how he stormed out. He will end up running away from us again."

"Yeah, and we can't risk him turning into a werewolf when it's not a full moon," Nick added. "I've talked to Anton, and he says it's not good for 'em to do that. Wears 'em out and can hurt 'em more than on full moon nights."

"So what do we do?" Viago questioned. 

"Well, it's obvious. One of us is going to have to bring him back here so we can talk to him," Vlad answered. He got up as well and made it into the hallway before the others stopped him. 

"Wait, why do you get to go talk to him?" Nick asked. "He's my best friend, I should go."

"Nick, I don't mean to sound rude, but... Well, you're not exactly the best at comforting people," Viago said, hoping he hadn't hurt another of his friends' feelings. 

"Yes, you never help to work out problems," Vlad added, "you just try to distract others from what's going on and nothing gets solved. That's why I should go."

"You're not that good at comforting others, either, Vladislav." Viago turned to face the other vampire in the hall, his hands on his hips. 

"Why do you say that? I'm great at comfort," Vlad retorted, crossing his arms and puffing out his chest.

"Tough love isn't exactly comfort," Viago said. "It doesn't work most of the time, and quite frankly comes off as mean."

"And what is it that you do, Viago? You just coddle everyone if they're having a hard time and never let them have a chance to deal with it themselves," Vlad raised his voice. 

"You don't have to shout!" Viago exclaimed.

"Neither do you!"

"Would you all just shut up?!" Deacon said, stepping between his friends and finally speaking up after watching the scene get out of hand. "This is about Stu. Not whatever bullshit minor things you hate about each other." He turned his back from the scene and began to walk for the door. 

"Where are you going?" Viago said, beginning to walk after Deacon, who now had his hand on the doorknob.

"I'm going to talk to Stu." Before the other three could get a word in edgewise, Deacon slammed the door behind him.

Luckily, Stu wasn't too far away. In fact, he was only sitting on the steps to the porch, arms crossed and perched on his knees, faced pushed into his forearms. Deacon carefully took a seat next to him.

"Hey," Deacon started, turning his head towards Stu, who turned his head away in response. There was silence for a moment. "You heard all of that inside, didn't you?"

Stu nodded, still not looking at his friend. 

"They just want to make sure you're okay." Deacon crossed his arms against his chest as a gust of cold wind blew across the porch. He should've thought about grabbing his jersey. 

"Well, I'm not," Stu finally said, breaking his silence. "You all figured that out already, though." He pressed his face further into his forearms and stared at the waning moon and the clouds that partly shrouded its reflected light. 

"You aren't exactly the best liar, Stu." Deacon said with a half smile. "Listen," he started, planting his feet firmly in front of where he sat and leaning forward, "I know you don't want to talk about what happened, but it isn't good to keep all of these things locked inside you, understand? It is bad for the brain."

Stu turned his gaze to Deacon. "Yeah, I guess it is." He drew in a deep breath and removed his face from his arms and confessed. "I killed someone."

Deacon raised an eyebrow. "...That's it?" 

Stu frowned and turned away from Deacon again. "That's why I didn't want to bring it up. None of you would take it seriously."

"No, you misunderstand, Stu." Deacon shifted on the step. "It's just that you've killed someone before."

"That was different. That guy was going to kill Vladislav, I couldn't sit and watch that guy murder him." He lowered his voice. "Especially since he was just trying to protect me. This time it wasn't defensive."

"So you feel terrible because of this?" Deacon asked.

"Yeah, I kind of just said that," Stu said, a bit irritated.

"Do you want me to tell you something?" Deacon said, dropping his volume. "I felt bad about my first kill, too." He uncrossed his arms and shifted his body to face Stu fully. "It was a girl from the town near Petyr's castle. She was leaving for a different town a few days over to sell wares like I used to." He looked up at the sky. "Obviously, she didn't make it there because I had eaten her. I went back to Petyr's castle upset with myself, but do you know what Petyr had said to me?" he asked.

"Hm?" Stu answered.

"He had said, 'You are a vampire. You need blood to live. This is not a question of morality, but of survival.' But he had said it to me in Polish, which I don't think you can understand. Can you?"

Stu shook his head. "But I'm not a vampire, Deacon." He said. "I'm a werewolf. I don't need to eat people to live. It's not about survival for me."

"But it is not something you can control," Deacon reminded him. "I cannot control the fact that I need blood to live. You cannot control what happens during the full moon. Either way, we might kill someone in the process." 

Stu was silent, pondering what Deacon had said. He was right. This wasn't something he was going to be able to control. At least not well.

"I have a question for you," Deacon said, breaking the silence between them. "You have talked to the other werewolves about this, yes?"

"Not really," Stu answered. "They seemed to play it off really casually. I woke up with someone's upper body next to me and all they had to say was that they were glad it wasn't someone they knew." 

"Maybe you should bring up your feelings to them, yes? They are supposed to be your pack, and to help you out with your werewolf-ness." Deacon twiddled his thumbs. "After all, this is the first time this has happened. I am not a werewolf, as you know. I do not know how to deal with it from a werewolf's point of view. But they are your pack, and they can help where I cannot."

Stu nodded, and Deacon rested his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"This reminds me of the time we all thought you were dead," Deacon added, smiling slightly. "Nick was taking it rather hard. I sat with him and told him how you would have wanted to die in a cool way, like being attacked by werewolves." He laughed a bit, and Stu gave him a confused look. Deacon continued, a bit more seriously. "We all missed you when we thought you were dead. You are very important to all of us." 

"Thanks, Deacon," Stu said. "I appreciate it."

"Do you feel better from this?" Deacon asked.

"Better than before, yeah."

"Then let's get you back inside. We can get you one of your beers from the fridge." Deacon stood up and offered his hand to Stu, who took in and pulled himself up from the steps on the porch. 

Viago, Vladislav, and Nick all scurried away from the door before Deacon opened it and ushered Stu back inside, one hand on his friend's shoulder. 

"Oh, Stu, you're back!" Viago said, trying to brighten the mood. 

"We were starting to worry about you. We thought maybe we pushed you too far." Vlad said, looking at Viago and hoping that was the right thing to say. Viago nodded.

"You okay, man?" Nick asked, sincerity permeating his usual nonchalant tone of voice.

Stu looked at Deacon. "Yeah, I'm alright now."

Deacon smiled and patted his friend's back. "Let's get you a beer, Stu."

**Author's Note:**

> I really just thought of this idea in the shower when I was having a tough time myself. Let me know if you liked it!


End file.
